Crystal Palace Manager Ian Holloway Leaves Club

Crystal Palace manager Ian Holloway has left the club less than a year after being put in charge of the Premier League club, according to a report by the BBC.

Holloway’s team was on the receiving end of an emphatic 4-1 home defeat against Fulham on Monday night, and the club currently sits second from bottom in the Premier League with just three points after one win this season (against Sunderland, at Selhurst Park).

Under Holloway’s management, he helped Crystal Palace get promoted to the Premier League last season after defeating Watford in the final at Wembley. At Crystal Palace, Holloway had a win percentage of 30% compared to 38% when he managed Blackpool.

However, it cannot go without saying that Palace have given Holloway very little support in the transfer market, and the manager has done as well as he can with the resources he has at his disposal. The way that Palace have managed their transfer activity was an indication that Palace were not willing to invest heavily to stay in the top flight, but that they were hoping to strengthen next season after they received a parachute payment if the club was to be relegated.

Holloway explained during his press conference today that he will consult with the club to help them find the next manager, but that he feels it’s time for someone new and that “I’ve lost the spirit of that group. I owe it to the lads to admit that.”

About Christopher Harris

Founder and publisher of World Soccer Talk, Christopher Harris is the managing editor of the site. He has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Guardian and several other publications. Plus he has made appearances on NPR, BBC World, CBC, BBC Five Live, talkSPORT and beIN SPORT.
Harris, who has lived in Florida since 1984, has supported Swansea City since 1979. He's also an expert on soccer in South Florida, and got engaged during half-time of a MLS game.
Harris launched EPL Talk in 2005, which was rebranded as World Soccer Talk in 2013.
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The squad was not really good enough to get promoted. They went on a great run. They were always going down this season. The squad is so poor and very thin. Why not stay behind the manager and enjoy the ride and work on building more youth so that you have a chance to bounce back up in two years?

Transfermarkt reports that the Dwight Gayle transfer was £4.6million. That was a very astute buy, and he’s been Palace’s best player so far, and will one day play for England (probably when he moves on to a bigger club).

Hull did well on three transfers — Huddlestone and Sagbo, as well as a loan signing of Livermore.

I would argue that Hull was a MUCH stronger squad that was promoted than Palace. Very few people expected Palace to go up, and they needed strengthening throughout the squad to have any chance of staying up this season.

Another thought, I listened to Steve Parry interview just a week ago he said that palace’s brand of football wasn’t right for the premier league as it wasn’t possession based. Pulis defensively might be a good move, but is it the right one?

Will it be a British manager? Is there a BPL number two that could do a job?

Nigel Clough was appointed as manager of Sheffield United today, so he’s out of the running. Personally, I would give the job to Tony Pulis, but it doesn’t matter who gets the job, it’s an almost impossible feat to keep them up.